Fosamax May Damage Liver

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Fosamax May Damage Liver

 

Doctors from Israel describe a 71-year-old woman who developed liver

damage 2 months after starting Fosamax, the popular bone-resorption

inhibitor, used in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis and

they feel strongly that the drug was the cause or a major

contributing factor.

 

Some of the known side effects of Fosamax are gastric and esophageal

inflammation, but renal failure, ocular damage, skin reactions, and

hypocalcemia have also been reported.

 

A case of hepatitis that developed after treatment with alendronate

was recently reported in a 77-year-old woman.

 

The authors admit that the mechanism by which alendronate may cause

liver damage is not known, although one possibility is that the

fosomax inhibits the synthesis of cholesterol in the liver, which

may alter liver function.

 

Regardless of the mechanism, physicians treating patients with a

fosamax or related drugs should be alert to the possibility of liver

dysfunction and monitor properly for it.

 

The New England Journal of Medicine August 3, 2000;343:365-366.

 

 

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COMMENT:

 

Although this is only a case report and it is likely that the 71

year old woman was highly compromised from other factors, it does

illustrate the fact that Fosamax is NOT something that should be

used. The report does maintain validity though because the target

market for this drug really is 50-70 year old women.

 

Bone building is a fine balance of a number of factors. Fosamax is

very similar to estrogen's mode of action. Estrogen inhibits

osteoclasts while Fosamax actually KILLS them. Osteoclasts cells in

the bone that actually remove the bone so it can be rebuilt. If

these cells are damaged the bone gets much denser. The fallacy in

medical thinking though is that a denser bone is a stronger bone.

 

This is just not true. Even though the bones are denser they are

actually weaker because they have not been allowed to remold

themselves and readjust to the constantly changing forces that are

applied to bones. This will actually increase the risk of fracture

over time.

 

NATURAL Progesterone is normally required to stimulate the

osteoblasts or the bone rebuilding cells. The synthetic version, or

Provera, does not provide this benefit.

 

I had previously recommended the cream version of natural

progesterone but for most people I cannot recommend this approach

any more, as it will in some people cause abnormally high levels of

progesterone in the body that actually cause a reverse effect and

stop it from working at all.

 

The optimal solution is to normalize the adrenal glands through a

variety of techniques. If a woman still has ovaries they can

normally be encouraged to produce appropriate amounts of estrogens

and progesterone to build strong bones.

 

The important tools for normalizing the adrenal glands include an

optimal diet, getting to bed by 10 PM and a mechanism for coping

with the stress in one's life. Salivary hormone testing is a useful

tool to monitor the effectiveness of the interventions.

 

Exercise and large amounts of vegetables are likely to be more

important the mineral replacements. Most people automatically assume

that calcium is the most important factor to address bone density. I

have seen a large number of women consuming calcium supplements that

did not have good bone density as these other issues were not

addressed.

 

Vitamin D is also essential to the formation of strong bones. There

is an article that will likely go in next week's newsletter that

provides some interesting conjecture that vitamin D should not even

really be called a vitamin but is more appropriately identified as a

precursor to a steroid hormone. A good mineral replacement however

is probably wise.

 

Magnesium, manganese, zinc, silicon and boron are also important

nutrients that should be in the supplement.

 

If you do decide to take Fosamax, be sure to ask your doctor to

check your liver function at regular intervals.

 

http://www.mercola.com/2000/aug/20/fosamax_liver.htm